After three consecutive years of double-digit returns in the S&P 500 since 2023, I decided to cut cable.
The reason was simple: I’m conditioning myself to prepare for hard times by not only reducing expenses, but also freeing up time to focus.
Yeah, I know. Here in America, when you make a lot of money, you’re supposed to spend more money and YOLO. But I didn’t get to FIRE by splurging my money away. I got there by saving and investing until it hurt for 13 consecutive years after college.
The pain makes me feel alive!
Besides, when times are good, there’s less need to spend more to feel great. You’re already marveling at your stock portfolio going up and feeling good after another neighborhood mega-bid closes.
Instead, the time to spend more is when conditions are difficult. Not only can you buy more things on sale, you also get to ease your financial suffering with new things and experiences.
The Key To A Better Life Is Forecasting Your Misery
It’s important to think in two timeframes when it comes to building wealth and maintaining happiness.
There’s the current you, who has made a fortune in stocks and real estate since the pandemic. But then there’s the future you, who must contend with the decisions you make today. Eventually, you will be miserable. And when that time comes, you need to have options.
Given nothing good or bad lasts forever, it’s only logical to assume the good feeling of making so much from your investments won’t last forever either. After the 2000 bubble burst, we went through more than 10 years of zero stock market gains.
We know that when future stock returns are plotted against valuations, the higher valuations go, the lower expected returns tend to be.
Consequently, we should prepare for hard times before they actually arrive. If we do, we’ll stand a much better chance of surviving and maybe even thriving.
Why Cutting Cable Finally Started To Make Sense
Our cable plus internet bill was $180 a month with Xfinity. Given I’m not the one in charge of paying this bill, I didn’t think much of it until I asked my wife how much it cost.
When I found out, it just didn’t sit right with me.
Yes, we definitely need the internet for me to write, record, and publish on Financial Samurai. We also need internet for watching shows and for the kids’ homework.
But cable? Not for $120/month out of the $180.
The only times I watched cable were when the Golden State Warriors played or when there was some great sports game on ESPN. But about a year ago, being able to watch the Warriors on Channel 720 somehow disappeared, which only left me with ESPN.
So I asked my wife to cancel cable, which she did.
The funny thing was, initially, I couldn’t believe she actually did it! I thought the cable salesperson would put up a fight, slash our bill in half, and turn back on Channel 720 for my Warriors.
But nope. My wife got no such offer, and we ended up going to the store to return the cable box the next week.
The Withdrawal Symptoms Were Real At First
I’ve had cable for over 20 years. So when I turned on the TV and got nothing, I felt a little lost. I tried scanning for channels with what I thought was a built-in antenna, but none were found because my older TV didn’t have one.
Oops.
Before cutting cable, I thought I’d easily be able to get the main channels to at least watch football on FOX, CBS, or NBC. So we went to Target to get a $30 antenna, and it worked for a bit.
It felt good being able to watch some sports and the news, even though I hardly do. The antenna was like an insurance policy, just like how all responsible parents get life insurance after having kids.
But then I realized that without my cable box, I could no longer record shows and games and watch them at my convenience while fast-forwarding through commercials.
I began to miss this luxury, which took about two weeks to get over.
Then, after Daddy Day Camp with the kids on Sunday, I came home expecting to watch the Super Bowl upstairs in my office. But my wife mentioned the antenna couldn’t pick up NBC.
What?
This was the main show I was happily going to watch for free without cable. I wanted to get my $30 worth from the mid-quality Philipps antenna we bought at Target. Supposedly there is a $90 version, which my wife skipped because the sales clerk said the $30 was good enough.
Our Very Janky Super Bowl Antenna Setup
No matter how many channels we scanned or how we positioned the antenna on our upstairs TV, we couldn’t get NBC to come in. I guess the antenna was facing the wrong direction relative to the broadcast tower.
So instead, we took the antenna downstairs to our family room TV, which never had cable to begin with, and hooked it up there.
It also had a difficult time finding NBC, even though we could literally see the broadcast tower a mile out our window.
My wife or I had to hold the antenna at a certain angle and not move, otherwise the picture would completely blur.
Holding the antenna with our arm up high to maybe get five seconds of Super Bowl action at a time was obviously inefficient. So I got an idea.
We unscrewed the lampshade from our torch lamp and clipped and taped the antenna onto it. Then we carefully moved it around to see if the NBC signal could be picked up.
Of course, the only place that worked at that height was right in front of the TV.
But hey. Not bad for a $30 antenna and saving $120 a month on cable.
It was a funny experience for the kids, and a chance for them to see Mom and Dad working together to solve a new problem. And when we finally settled on putting the antenna right in front of the TV, we laughed and told the kiddos, “That’s just life sometimes.”
After A Couple Weeks, I Stopped Missing Cable
After the Super Bowl, we ended up watching maybe a total of 30 minutes of the Winter Olympics, also hosted on NBC. But that was it.
Since then, we haven’t watched a single minute of live TV. In fact, as I was writing this post, I realized my upstairs TV didn’t have the antenna anymore.
After 20-plus years of cable, there was an initial two-week adjustment period to not having cable anymore. But it was easy to adapt thanks to the antenna and all the other streaming services available.
We pay for Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime. And part of my reason for cutting cable was that I learned from my dad during our winter holiday trip to Honolulu that Prime hosts NBA games every Thursday.
I had no idea.
And the irony was, my dad was using our Prime account!
So without cable, I just found other means of visual entertainment from packages we were already paying for. And although my Warriors won’t always be shown on Thursday evenings, they will be every once in a while on Prime.
This Was More About Mindset Than The Money
At the end of the day, I’ll save $120 X 12 = $1,440, minus $30 for the antenna, for a total of $1,410 saved this year on my cable bill.
It’s not a huge sum of money, but it is significant enough to feel good about saving it.
Not only do I feel good about saving $120 a month, but I also feel good knowing I no longer have as much temptation to watch TV. This is the year I want to finish the first draft of my latest book, Your Children Will Be OK.
Not only does saving money and having fewer distractions feel good, I also feel good knowing I’ll better utilize my existing streaming services. I downloaded the Prime Video app and set a reminder to check what NBA games are on Thursdays.
And I don’t feel bad being an Amazon Prime member given we get great value from free grocery delivery alone, along with same-day or next-day delivery of any other goods we buy.
This service was especially handy during the pandemic when our kids were babies and toddlers, i.e. getting wipes and diapers.
Preparing For When Money Becomes More Scarce
So there you have it. I’ve cut cable and don’t plan to go back.
I’d rather use the money to buy healthier food or higher-quality athletic equipment than spend more time in front of a screen. But more importantly, I feel lighter.
With more free time, I’m able to better focus on creating. The FIRE movement is so back due to AI disruption. It’s forced me to lock down expenses and pay better attention to what’s ahead while times are good.
Given I can no longer save 50% or more of my salary – one of the key FIRE principles I recommend – the next best thing is to cut costs and get used to living lean.
With the action I took to cut cable, now you know why there was simply no way I could pony up $60,000–$120,000 to replace my almost 11-year-old vehicle after all those electrical issues. In preparation for lean times, the most responsible financial move was to try and fix the car, which I have.
The next cost I’m considering cutting is my second sports club membership at $205/month. But I’m not sure I can do it since I take my kids there to teach them how to swim and play tennis every week.
Let’s see how far I can take the cost-cutting.
Questions And Suggestions
Readers, have you cut cable or any other non-productive expenses from your budget to prepare for harder times ahead? How many streaming services do you pay for? Do you feel better paying for multiple if you let friends and family use your account? And are you preparing for hard times now while times are still good?
A great way to review all your expenses is to link them all up with a wealth management tool like Empower or Boldin. You’ll get a clear, real-time overview of what you’re spending so you can more easily cut the excess.
If you’d like to get a signed copy of my USA Today bestseller, Millionaire Milestones, check out my free Empower financial review for instructions. Getting a professional to review your investments for any blindspots or areas of improvements is helpful in building greater risk-appropriate wealth over time.
